Why this ride
284 km from Arashiyama to Arashiyama, about 5 h 16 of riding. It goes by way of Nara Palace Site, Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb, Tôdai-ji and Higashiumazuka Kofun. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tenryu-ji and Higashiumazuka Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 284 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 16
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Tenryu-ji → Nara Palace Site
The ride follows Tenryu-ji → Nara Palace Site for 46 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 46 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Tenryu-ji
People come to Arashiyama for the bamboo, and they leave with the memory of a garden. Tenryu-ji, the great Zen temple at the foot of the hills on the west side of Kyoto, was founded in 1339 by the shogun Ashikaga Takauji, who built it to console the spirit of the emperor Go-Daigo, his former rival. The garden, designed by the Zen master Muso Soseki, is older than almost every other thing you will see in the area: a pond with rocks arranged like a mountain landscape, with the hills of Arashiyama pulled into the view as borrowed scenery. It has survived fire after fire, though most of the halls themselves are later rebuilds.
Read the complete Tenryu-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tenryu-ji is where the day begins. Next is Nara Palace Site.
2. Nara Palace Site
For most of the eighth century, Nara was the capital of Japan. The city, then called Heijō-kyō, was laid out on a grid modelled on the Chinese capital Chang'an, and at its northern end stood the imperial palace, Heijō-kyū, a vast compound of halls, offices and gardens. When the court moved away at the end of the century, the palace was abandoned and the land eventually returned to rice fields. Today the Nara Palace Site is a huge open space on the western side of the modern city, part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nara Palace Site comes up about 46 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb.
3. Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb
In the gentle hills of Asuka, south of Nara, the first capitals of Japan rose and fell in the sixth and seventh centuries, and the land is still dotted with the tombs of the powerful. Kengoshizuka is one of them, a mound on a low ridge that excavations revealed to be octagonal in shape, a form used for imperial tombs in that period. Inside were found twin burial chambers cut from stone, and many scholars believe it to be the tomb of Empress Saimei, who reigned twice in the seventh century, with her daughter buried beside her. Restoration work in recent years has given the mound back its original shape, faced with stones, so it is far more legible than many overgrown kofun.
Read the complete Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 79 km into the recorded legs you reach Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb. Next is Tôdai-ji.
4. Tôdai-ji
Nothing quite prepares you for the scale of Tōdai-ji. You walk through the great Nandaimon gate, past two fierce wooden guardian kings carved in the thirteenth century by Unkei, Kaikei and their workshop, and there it is: the Daibutsuden, the Great Buddha Hall, for centuries the largest wooden building in the world, even though the current structure, rebuilt in the early eighteenth century, is smaller than the original. Inside sits the Daibutsu, a bronze Buddha some fifteen metres tall, commissioned by Emperor Shōmu and consecrated in 752 with a ceremony that drew monks from as far away as India. The temple is part of the UNESCO listing of Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
Read the complete Tôdai-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tôdai-ji, about halfway. Next is Higashiumazuka Kofun.
5. Higashiumazuka Kofun
The Yamato basin, in the middle of Nara prefecture, is where Japan's early rulers raised their great earthen tombs, and Kashihara sits at the heart of it. Around the third and fourth centuries and for several hundred years afterward, the leaders of the Yamato court were buried under mounds, many in a distinctive keyhole shape, a round tomb joined to a trapezoidal front. These are the kofun, which simply means old mound. They were ringed with clay cylinders called haniwa, some formed into the shapes of houses, horses, warriors and dancers, and many were surrounded by moats.
Read the complete Higashiumazuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Higashiumazuka Kofun sits at 153 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tôdai-ji.
6. back through Tôdai-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tôdai-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tôdai-ji comes up about 173 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb.
7. back through Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 204 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb. Next is back through Nara Palace Site.
8. back through Nara Palace Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nara Palace Site, late in the day. Next is Tenryu-ji.
9. Tenryu-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tenryu-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 284 km.
Leg by leg
Tenryu-ji to Nara Palace Site
Tenryu-ji → Nara Palace Site is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nara Palace Site to Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb
Nara Palace Site → Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb to Tôdai-ji
Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb → Tôdai-ji is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tôdai-ji to Higashiumazuka Kofun
Tôdai-ji → Higashiumazuka Kofun is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Higashiumazuka Kofun to back through Tôdai-ji
Higashiumazuka Kofun → back through Tôdai-ji is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tôdai-ji to back through Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb
back through Tôdai-ji → back through Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb to back through Nara Palace Site
back through Kengoshizuka Mounded Tomb → back through Nara Palace Site is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nara Palace Site to Tenryu-ji
back through Nara Palace Site → Tenryu-ji is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.